ACT & Alachua County Forever Partnering to Protect 128 Acres along the Upper Santa Fe River

Donations are needed before January 30th to help ACT purchase 25 acres of future conservation land located along the Santa Fe River

Partnerships are often key when potential conservation land becomes available for purchase, especially when the property is located in multiple counties. For many years ACT has teamed up with local, state, and federal government agencies to ensure that conservation land is protected throughout our working area and beyond. ACT regularly works with Alachua County Forever to protect land within Alachua County as well as land that has an impact in the area on natural resources that exist throughout multiple counties.

The Santa Fe River is one such resource, flowing for 75 miles and through 7 counties before merging into the Suwannee River. The Santa Fe River is a unique system, fed by hundreds of freshwater springs and home to a diversity of wildlife, some endemic only to this area. Protection of the Santa Fe River has been a top priority not only for ACT, but also many of our partners. Protecting land along the Santa Fe River from development not only safeguards North Florida's drinking water supply, it also protects the water quality of the river itself and the springs that flow into it, and creates a corridor of land for wildlife to roam freely.

With your help, ACT is working to raise $105,000 for the purchase of 25 acres of a 128-acre acquisition that stretches through Alachua and Bradford counties along the upper Santa Fe River. This critical piece of land is located on both sides of the river along with a bottomland hardwood forest and is in close proximity to two other properties under conservation easements held by either Alachua County or ACT. Preserving this property would add additional water resource protection along the river, restoration opportunities for longleaf pine habitat, continued management of the existing bottomland hardwood forest, and would further extend conservation lands and wildlife habitat in an area of our state that is continuously under the threat of development.

Please consider making an end-of-year or early 2023 tax-deductible donation to help ACT raise the funds needed for its portion of this acquisition by January 30th.

Above Right: Photo of the upper Santa Fe River by Kim Davidson.

Photo of Lochloosa Slough Preserve by Kim Davidson.

Nature Wins the Election Again!

On November 8th, Alachua County went to the polls and renewed Wild Spaces & Public Places for a third time. It is the fourth time Alachua County voters have approved such an initiative including the original Alachua County Forever ballot initiative that passed in 2002. With this major conservation victory, the Alachua County Forever Program will now be able to acquire and improve environmentally sensitive lands to protect drinking water sources, water quality, and wildlife habitat and to create, improve and maintain parks and recreational facilities in all cities and the county for another decade to come.  

With 10 years of conservation funding in place, Alachua County is well positioned to go after Federal funding available that was allocated through the Inflation Reduction Act, Great American Outdoors Act, as well as conservation funding available through the Farm Bill, the Land & Water Conservation Fund, and the North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) among others. ACT has had tremendous success in partnering with Alachua County to leverage their conservation dollars with these federal dollars as well as other state and private philanthropic conservation dollars. To date, the Alachua County Forever program has conserved more than 33,700 acres. By prioritizing the conservation of our water and land resources, Alachua County has set itself apart as the county leader in conservation across the state of Florida and also across the country. 

ACT’s Executive Director, Tom Kay, was one of the four co-chairs for the Wild Spaces & Public Places campaign along with former UF Soccer Coach, Becky Burleigh, former Newberry City Commissioner, Joy Glanzer, and Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce CEO, Eric Godet. Each took on a part of the ballot initiatives objectives – conservation, active recreation parks, roads, and fire stations respectively.  Their efforts were instrumental in getting the word out to voters. 

We want to give a special thanks to Pegeen Hanrahan, Kristen Young, Hutch Hutchinson, and Meg Niederhofer for all their immense efforts in helping to secure another 10 years of conservation funding in Alachua County. This also would not have passed without the wisdom and guidance of the conservation ballot initiative gurus at the Trust for Public Land. They have been involved in most of the successful conservation ballot initiatives at the local, municipal, county, and state level across the U.S. over the last few decades. Much gratitude to the Alachua County Commissioners who put the initiative on the ballot in the first place. We are also especially grateful to all the folks who donated to the campaign to educate and inform voters via mailers, social media, radio, and yard signs.  And, of course, to all the voters who casted their votes Yes for Wild Spaces & Public Places, THANK YOU!  

With this historic vote, Alachua County voters chose to continue to acquire, conserve, and restore environmentally sensitive lands; to protect drinking water sources, water quality, and wildlife habitat; and to create, improve and maintain parks and recreational facilities in all cities and across the county. Over the next 10 years, the half-cent sales tax allocated for conservation and parks is expected to generate 285 million dollars. You rock, Alachua County!  

Above photo by Tedd Greenwald.

Weekly Walk & Talk at Serenola Forest Preserve:

Thursday, December 8th from 9 am - 11 am

Join ACT staff on a hike of our different nature preserves each week and learn about the ecology, history, and current and future restoration plans.

Trees & Treats - Plant a Pine & Decorate a Holiday Cookie with ACT:

Saturday, December 10th from 9 am - 12 pm

Happy Holidays! Join us at Prairie Creek Preserve with the whole family to plant longleaf pine seedlings and decorate holiday cookies.

SAVE THE DATE - Conservation Stewards Awards at Prairie Creek Lodge:

Saturday, March 25, 2023 from 5 pm - 9 pm

Save the date for the biggest conservation event of the year! Tickets on sale in January.

You make conservation possible! 

Thank you for donating your time, money, and energy to making ACT's work a success.

Please donate today - or consider including ACT in your estate planning - to save wild spaces, train the next generation of land stewards, and open up new public preserves to your community.

THANK YOU!

Banner image by Kim Davidson.